From the East
by Frontline
Summary: Po washes up on the shores of Dragon's Edge following a storm and is saved by Hiccup and Toothless.
1. Chapter 1

**Dreamworks Dragons, all characters and concepts are the property of Dreamworks Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended, nor profit made, from this work of fiction.**

'The storm's getting worse, Hiccup.' Astrid yelled, over the howling of the wind, her knees gripping Stormfly for dear life. 'I think we should head back.'

'...Yeah.' Hiccup said and Toothless rumbled in agreement. 'I guess we won't be going anywhere for a while. Come on, bud. Let's get back...' He began, as Toothless gave a low rumble, shaking his head vigorously.

'Easy, Toothless. What's the matter?' Hiccup asked, just as Astrid called out.

'Hiccup, look!'

Following where she was pointing, Hiccup looked down, squinting towards the rain lashed rocks.

'Someone's down there! Come on, Astrid! Let's go, bud.' He said, urging Toothless into a dive to come into a landing by the shore. Lying on the rocks was a heavy-set figure in what he took to be furs. However, as he got closer, he saw that he wasn't wearing fur...

'Hiccup?' Astrid asked, coming up beside him with her axe held in both hands.

'Who...what is it?'

'I...don't know. It looks like a bear...but I've never seen one like this before...'

'What are you doing?' Astrid hissed as he reached out and rolled him over, leaning down to put his ear against his chest.

'He's still breathing. Come on, we need to get him back to the settlement.'

'Are you crazy? He might be dangerous...'

'Maybe, but I don't think so. Besides, if he is, do you really want him wandering around the island when he comes to?'

'...alright.' Astrid said, swinging herself back into Stormfly's saddle. 'Stormfly. Fetch...'

'...and we found him on the rocks.' Hiccup said. 'Fishlegs, any idea where he might have come from?'

'...maybe.' He answered, flicking through the book that he was holding. 'I think...he's a Panda bear, a species native to China. But...'

'But what?' Snotlout asked, folding his arms across his chest.

'But...China's supposed to be a myth. According to legend, it's supposed to be a land filled with talking animals that walk on two legs, like we do. At the centre of the land is the Jade Temple, home to the greatest martial arts masters in the land.'

'Ooh, Martial Arts!' Tuffnut said, as Ruffnut rolled her eyes. 'I love Martial Arts. Haiee! Aiyah! Can we go there?'

'It's just a legend. It doesn't really exist...'

'Then, how do you explain him?' Tuffnut asked. 'Huh, Fishlegs?'

'Yeah.' Snotlout said 'Huh, Fishlegs?'

'Anyway!' Hiccup said, getting between them. 'There's nothing we can do until he wakes up. See to your Dragons and get some rest. We'll need to be ready to go as soon as the storm passes...'

Hiccup looked up from the book that he was flicking through as Astrid approached.

'Has he come round yet?'

'Not yet...' Hiccup said, and she sat down next to him.

'What are you reading?' She asked and Hiccup shrugged.

'Just one of Fishlegs' books. Do you think there's Dragon's in China?'

'Dragons? Hiccup, you heard what Fishlegs said. It's just a legend...'

'Maybe.' Hiccup said. 'But, we didn't even know that this Archipelago existed until recently. It's possible that...'

He was interrupted by a groan and they both looked round to see the Panda sitting up, holding his hand to his head.

'Ohhh. Where...am I...?' He asked and Astrid exchanged a glance with Hiccup.

'Uh...that might take some explaining.' Hiccup said as he stepped forward, gesturing for Astrid to stay where she was. 'My name's Hiccup. We found you on the rocks. Do you...remember what happened?'

'I...there was...my friend's and I were sailing home when we got caught in a storm and...

'...the wind's too strong!' Tigris yelled, from where she was wrestling with the wheel. 'We need to drop the sail or we're going to go over!'

'Leave it to me.' Crane said, his wings beating as he leapt towards the mast. However, he was caught by the wind as soon as he left the deck and would have been blown overboard if Viper hadn't caught him with her tail.

'I'll do it.' Po said, and Mantis hopped onto his shoulder.

' _We'll_ do it.' He said and Po nodded, grabbing the rail and forcing his way along the rocking deck towards the mast, his claws digging into the wood. Quickly, Mantis scuttled along his arm and onto the mast, slicing through the ropes to send the sail falling towards the deck.

'Look out!' Monkey yelled from where he was clinging to the top of the mast and Po looked round to see a huge wave rushing towards them.

 _Oh, great..._

'Go!' He yelled, Mantis scuttling up the mast towards Monkey and Po dived for the edge of the deck just as the wave hit and he felt himself swept off his feet...

'...and next thing I knew, I was in the water. I tried to get back to the boat, but the waves were too strong.' He said, lying back with a groan. 'Man, I thought I was a goner, then...'

He shook his head, forcing a smile.

'Anyway, thanks for the save. My name's Po and...'

He stomach as he stomach growled and he grinned, sheepishly.

'...do you have anything to eat?'

Hiccup sat at the end of the table, idly flicking through the Book of Dragons, while the others were all clustered around Po.

'...and then, skadoosh. I defeated him using the Wuxi Finger Hold.' Po said, sitting back as he drained his bowl with a slurping sound. 'Man, that's good stew...'

'What's the Wuxi Finger Hold?' Snotlout asked and Po turned toward him.

'It was developed by Master Wuxi in the Third Dynasty to disrupt an opponent's chi by attacking the pressure point in his little finger.'

'Ooh. Can you show us?' Tuffnut asked and Po hesitated.

'Uh...not really. It's...hard to clean up, afterwards...'

'Cool...' Ruffnut said and Po grinned.

'If you think that's cool, wait until you hear about the time that Shen and his army of Wolves tried to invade China...' He said and Hiccup suppressed a snort.

'Come on, Toothless.' He said, snapping the book closed and standing up. 'Let's get out of here...'

Hiccup turned the page of the Book of Dragons with a sigh, not looking up when he heard the footsteps approaching.

'Hiccup? Are you okay?'

'Huh? Yeah, I'm fine, Astrid...' Hiccup said, without looking up as she sat down next to him.

'Then, why don't you come back inside? Po's story's just getting to the good part...'

'No thanks...' Hiccup said and Astrid frowned.

'Hiccup, are you...jealous?'

'I have work to do, Astrid.' Hiccup said, turning another page as Toothless raised his head with a growl.

'What's the matter, bud?' He asked, following his gaze. Through the gloom, he could just make out the shape of a boat heading towards the jetty.

'That's not a Viking boat.' Astrid said and Hiccup got to his feet.

'No, it's not. Come on...'

Hiccup, Astrid and Toothless arrived on the docks at the same time as Po and the others, just as the boat was pulling alongside. As he watched, a red-furred figure leapt off the deck and landed on the jetty.

'Tigriss! Po exclaimed, his face breaking into a grin. 'You're alive. Are the other's...?

'They're fine.' Tigriss said, as Monkey, Viper, Mantis and Crane leapt down to join her and she folded her arms across her chest. 'Who're these guys...?'

 **Thank you for reading. Any reviews, comments or constructive criticism very welcome.**


	2. Chapter 2

**All characters and concepts are the property of their respective creators. No copyright infringement is intended, or profit made, from this work of fiction.**

'How many islands are there?' Po yelled from Toothless' back and Hiccup glanced round at him.

'We don't know,' Hiccup yelled. 'We've only explored a handful of them...'

'That's great! My friends are missing and we've no idea where to start looking...'

'Hiccup,' Astrid yelled as Stormfly flew up to join him. 'There's something down there...'

'What is it?'

'I'm... sorry, Po. It looks like the wreckage of a boat...'

'What about my friends...?'

'There...was no sign of them...'

'Then, are you saying that they're...'

'Not necessarily,' Hiccup said. 'They might have made it to one of the nearby islands.'

'You think so...?'

'We won't know unless we take a closer look...'

'Hiccup, we've got something,' Astrid yelled and Hiccup looked down to where she was pointing. Below them was a collection of tents and rough wooden huts around a crude metal cage.

'What is it?' Po asked and Hiccup shrugged.

'I don't know. Let's find out...'

They landed on a rocky outcrop above the camp and dismounted. Even from this distance, they could hear the roar of the crowd as a figure with a prehensile tail was urged into the cage by a dozen guards with spears.

'That's Monkey!' Po yelled. 'What's going on...?'

'I think we're about to find out...' Astrid said, as Monkey was the door to the cage open and a Viking stepped inside. He was large and heavily muscled, a heavy metal helmet on his head and crude axes in either hand. As they watched, the guards unlocked the chains on Monkey's wrists just as the Berserker charged towards him.

'No...' Po yelled, just as Monkey leapt into the air, the blades slicing through where he had been. Before the Viking could react, his foot lashed out into a kick that dented his helmet and dropped him to the floor where he lay still. The roar of the crowd increased as the guards approached Monkey, spears pointing towards him. Another Viking approached hesitantly and put the manacles back on his wrists, dragging him away.

'Come on,' Hiccup said. 'We need to get down there...'

'What about Po?' Astrid said. 'We can't just go there with him...'

'Why not?' Snotlout said. 'With him there, we can kick his...'

'There's too many of them, Snotlout. No, we need a new plan. And I think I know what we need to do...'

'Are you sure this is going to work?' Po asked, scanning the sky and Hiccup turned towards him.

'Don't worry. Astrid knows what she's doing...'

'Incoming...' Ruffnut said and Hiccup looked up to see Stormfly sweeping down towards them, a Viking clutched in her talons. She dropped him to the ground, Stormfly landing lightly and Astrid dismounting. The Viking groaned, his eyes fluttering open just as Astrid brought the handle of her axe down on his head and he slumped to the ground.

'Did anyone see you?' Hiccup asked and Astrid shook her head, kneeling down to start removing his armour.

'No. Come on. Give me a hand...'

'It feels a little tight...' Po said, wincing as Hiccup tightened the straps on the armour. Behind them, Astrid was finishing tying up the Viking that they had captured.

'I know. But, you do look like a Viking.' Hiccup said, handing him the helmet. 'Come on...'

The swept down towards the camp, landing before the startled guards could react and Hiccup dismounted.

'Who's in charge here?' He demanded and one of the Vikings stepped forward, brandishing his hammer.

'Who wants to know?'

'The son of Stoick the Vast, Chief of Berk...'

'This isn't Berk, boy.' He said, raising his hammer. 'And your Dragons don't scare us...'

His voice trailed off as Toothless bent low to the ground, a deep rumble sounding in his throat.

'Gundar!' A voice snapped and Hiccup turned to see another Viking striding towards them, rich fur wrapped around his shoulders. He strode past Hiccup and there was a meaty smack as his fist struck Gundar across the jaw.

'Get out of my sight!' He snarled, turning to Hiccup and looking him up and down.

'I'm Skuti Atssurrson. What brings the son of Stoick the Vast here?'

'We heard that you have some...unusual fighters here. We've come to see for ourselves and maybe get some training.'

'You? A crippled boy. Ha...'

'No. Not me.' Hiccup said, turning to Astrid. 'Her.'

'Ha. A little girl?' Skuti barked, laugher ringing out from the assembled Vikings, stopping abruptly when Astrid's axe buried itself in a wooden post hard enough to split the wood

'Astrid is one of our best warriors,' Hiccup said, mildly. 'Of course, if you're afraid of your own men being shown up...'

'Very well.' Skuti growled. 'We'll be holding the next fight soon. At least I'll get to give some good odds...'

He strode away and Hiccup turned to the others, gesturing for them to step in close.

'Alright. Everyone, split up and take a look around. We need to find the Five, if we can...'

'These guys don't look so tough...' Snotlout said, as they walked through the camp and Astrid jabbed her elbow into his ribs.

'Will you shut up?' she hissed. 'We're here to find the Five, not start a fight...'

'You disappoint me, Astrid. We're Vikings. Starting fights is what we do. You've been spending too much time around Hiccup...'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'When Gobber was teaching us, you'd never shy away from a fight. You need a real man, like me...'

'Hiccup is a man. He's not afraid to fight, but he doesn't blindly go looking for them. A real warrior picks their battles...'

'Whatever, babe. You know, I sometimes miss when we were fighting the Dragons...Hookfang!' He snarled, as Hookfang's tail swept his feet from under him, dumping him to the ground and Astrid shook her head.

'You were saying?'

'Present company accepted,' Snotlout grumbled as he got back to his feet. 'Anyway...whoa, hold it...'

'What?'

'There they are...'

'Where?'

'Behind you. On your left...'

Astrid turned slowly, following Snotlout's gaze and she saw four crude metal cages a few metres away, each of them connected to the larger cage where they had see the fight earlier. Inside the nearest cage was Monkey, sitting with his legs folded and his eyes closed. Above his head hung a smaller cage holding a green insect with six legs and sharp claws on his forearms. The cages on either side held a curled up snake and a long-legged bird with black and white feathers. Finally, there was an orange and black furred figure, her hands and feet looking more like paws, a tail flicking irritably on the dusty floor. Seeing Astrid watching her, she turned towards her, fixing her with a steady stare, her eyes narrowing at her.

'Come on,' Snotlout said. 'Let's bust 'em out...'

'...no.'

'Astrid, we're never going to get a better chance. Look, there's only two guards. Hookfang can melt the locks, we get them out and blast back to Dragon's Edge before anyone can stop us.'

'And why should they trust us? If we blow this, we might never get another chance. Besides, we need to let Hiccup know. Come on...'

'But...'

'I'll kick your butt if you don't get a move on...'

'Did you see the kick that Monkey did?' Ruffnut asked. 'One blow and...whang! When we bust them out, we've got to get them to teach us how to do that!'

'Will you two keep your voices down?' Fishlegs hissed, glancing around. 'Do you want to blow our cover?'

'You're just jealous because they're not going to teach you...' Ruff said and Tuff chimed in.

'Yeah, jealous!'

'What are you talking about? They haven't even agreed to train you, yet. Come on, we should get back to the others. They'll be starting the fight, soon...'

'You should let me do this...' Po hissed and Hiccup shook his head.

'It's too risky. If they find out who you are, they'll just take you, too. Astrid can handle it...'

'My friends have learned to fight since they were kids...'

'So has Astrid. Here we go...' He whispered, as the door to the cage ground open and Tigris stepped through, spurred on by the spear points of the guards outside.

'Tigris...' Po muttered and Hiccup jabbed an elbow into his stomach.

'Quiet,' he hissed, turning to Astrid. 'You up for this?'

'Uh-huh.'

'Okay. Remember, we're only going to get one shot at this...'

'I know, Hiccup...'

Astrid stepped into the cage, the metal door slamming shut behind her and she got a grip of her battle axe.

 _Here goes..._

Stepping forward, she swung the axe towards Tigris, who sidestepped the blow, her own foot lashing out in a kick towards her ribs. Astrid dodged back from the blow and then Tigris was on her, claws slashing and she found herself being driven backwards. She blocked the blows with the handle of her axe, but one got through, her palm striking her ribs and she felt something crack. Fighting against the pain, she ducked a kick that would have taken her head off and jabbed the handle of her axe into Tigris' stomach, doubling her over. Faster than she expected, Tigris somersaulted forward, her foot striking her temple and knocking her to the ground. Before she could recover, Tigris' foot was pressed on her chest and the crowd roar as she drew back her claws.

'Wait!' Astrid said. 'We're here with Po...'

'Po...'

'Yes. We found him washed up on the shores of our island. We've come to get you out...'

'Why should I believe you...?'

'He told us about the battle with Tao Lung and how he always dreamed of becoming a Kung Fu master...'

'Alright. What's the plan?'

'We'll break you out after dark. For now, you need to beat me...'

Astrid swept her foot aside and came to her feet, charging towards her with her axe raised over her head and Tigris leapt into a spinning kick. The blow connected with her ribs and Astrid collapsed to the floor, clutching at her side as Tigris turned and walked out of the cage, heading back to her cell.

'Astrid,' Hiccup called, opening the door to the cage and kneeling by her side. 'You okay?'

'Yeah. Just don't ask me to do that again...'

'Come on,' Hiccup said, helping her up and outside to where the others were waiting.

'Did it work?' Hiccup whispered and Astrid nodded.

'Yes...'

'Okay. It'll be dark in a couple of hours. That's when we do it...'

Behind him, unnoticed by any of them, a swarthy Viking turned and pushed his way through the crowds, heading for Skuti's tent...

'All clear?' Hiccup asked, from where they were crouched behind the barrels and Snotlout nodded.

'Just two guards...'

'Alright. Ruff, Tuff, you deal with them. Snotlout, Astrid, get the cells open. Fishlegs and I will cover you. Once they're free, we can get out of here...'

'I don't think so, boy...' a voice said and Hiccup spun around to see Skuti standing behind them. 'Get them!'

Vikings emerged from the shadows, drawing their weapons with a scrape of steel and they charged.

'Astrid, get the cells open,' Hiccup yelled. 'We'll hold them off. Come on, bud.'

Leaping astride Toothless, Hiccup urged him into the air and wheeled around, unleashing a plasma blast that knocked two Vikings off their feet. Astrid sprang onto Stormfly's back, her flame melting through the lock of Tigris' cell. A Viking rushed towards her, hammer raised over his head and Stormfly flicked her tail, a barbed spine burying itself in his shoulder and he collapsed with a cry of pain.

'Ai-yah!' Po yelled, launching himself into a flying kick that knocked down two Vikings. Landing in a crouch, he caught the arm of a Viking that was swinging a sword at his head and slamming him to the floor with a shoulder throw.

'Yahoo!' Snotlout yelled, as Hookfang's tail whipped round, flattening five Vikings. 'We've got them on the run!'

'Don't get cocky,' Hiccup admonished, as Toothless blasted another Viking who had been aiming a spear at him. 'Astrid, how we doing?'

'We're clear, ' Astrid said, as Tigris leapt into the saddle behind her. 'Let's go!'

'Go! We'll cover you.' Hiccup yelled, as Monkey leapt onto Barf and Belch, Crane hopping onto Meatlug as Mantis scrambling up Hookfang's tail and they shot skywards, Toothless' plasma blast keeping the Viking's pinned down.

'Let's go, bud!' He yelled and Toothless pulled up, heading after the others, leaving Skuti staring up after them.

'Good job, gang. Let's go home...'

 **Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Any reviews, comments or constructive criticisms are very welcome.**


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